Man dies after setting himself on fire to protest jail time

A man died after setting himself on fire to protest a prison sentence in Hanoi, Vietnam.

68-year-old Bui Huu Tuan died on Thursday after he set himself ablaze because he was sentenced to five years for abusing power. The former chief of the village of Dao Ngan, in Hanoi’s Chuong My District, went outside the Central Citizen Reception Committee in Hanoi on the morning of July 4 and poured gasoline on his body before setting himself alight in protest of the conviction.

He had gone to the Central Citizen Reception Committee with Luong Cong Tinh, also from Dao Ngan, to lodge an appeal while out on bail.

Tran Trinh, chairman of Hop Dong Commune’s People Committee, where the deceased lived, told of Bui Huu Tuan’s death. He suffered burns on 77 per cent of his body, including deep burns into his muscles and skeleton.

“His remains will be buried at his family tomb,” Tran Trinh said.